I birded the Lemmon Valley Sewer Ponds and Playa and Sparks Marina this
afternoon. The sewer ponds were interesting. Best birds were a pair of
Barrow's Goldeneyes on the next to last pond and my only Ross's Goose of
the season (out on the playa.)
Also present were lots of Lesser Scaup -- I counted 26 but that's
probably low. In any case, a lot -- this was the fourth highest count
I've ever had out there (with records dating back to 1997.) Lots of
Canvasbacks, too, which are always fun to see. And my first Cinnamon
Teal of the season.
Sparks Marina was disappointing. I did a reasonably careful scan of all
of the birds out in the middle of the lake at 60 power, plus the easier
to see groups at the north end. I expect there were close to 2,000
gulls. There was one first-cycle Thayer's. And everything else was a
California or Ring-bill.
Here's the list from Lemmon Valley Sewer Ponds and Playa:
Ross's Goose 1
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal 2
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Lesser Scaup 26
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye 2
Ruddy Duck
American Coot
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Martin
---------------
Martin Meyers
email: Martin (...AT...) SierraBirdbum.com
Photo website: http://SierraBirdbum.com
Truckee, CA